The New Year Blues

Have you ever heard of the term, “New Year Blues”? It’s the end of the year and you’re getting kind of down. The excitement of the coming holidays has past and you’re left with a few more pounds around your waistline and a dwindling bank account. Maybe you look over the past year and are down on yourself because you didn’t accomplish all that you had hoped. You get the point, sometimes as the year winds down we feel more depressed and down than happy like everyone thinks we should be. Well, I have a case of the New Year’s Blues. And, it’s not necessarily because I gained too much or spent too much, or even wished I would have done more in 2017, but mainly because the excitement and stress of the holiday’s plum wears me out. I’m exhausted with a capital E. The fatigue is strong, and oh so real.

Feeling defeated after the holidays

I love fall and winter; I love the changing of the weather and all of the holidays. I look forward to the good food and family time, but I swear from October to after New Year’s Day, we are go, go, go. The weekends where I normally rest and recuperate from work and running after my toddler are filled with endless activity. And, while I love every minute of it, my body detests it. My mind says “Oh you can do this, it’s only a few months”, but by the end of Christmas my body is screaming at me to slow down. I know the holidays aren’t easy on everyone, 99% of the human race is as busy as we are I’m sure. However, not everyone battles with MS and the nasty dose of fatigue it hands you when you’ve done too much. I try every holiday season to plan ahead, I really do. I try to prepare myself financially, mentally, physically and all of that good stuff, but it seems that no matter how much I try to plan and prepare that it’s never quite enough. At the end of the holiday season I’m still left defeated by doing too much yet again. I try to rest up as much as possible, and I try to stay healthy and active, but even sometimes that isn’t enough. MS is so mean some days, and after the holidays I definitely feel like I’ve been punched straight in the gut by this mean disease.

Holidays with MS are HARD

I wish I had some kind of positive advice or something to give you to go on, but right now I’m truly so drained I can’t even think of anything. Holidays are hard, but holidays with MS are HARD. I truly am looking forward to a new year and to see what 2018 has to bring. I look forward to smashing new goals and seeing what’s in store for my little family. Right now though, I’m mostly excited for things to slow down a little bit… for the normal every day to return and to recover from the holidays. It’s going to be hard I know- my body will probably take all of January to feel somewhat normal again as much as I hate to say it. So, for now, my biggest New Year’s resolution is to rest; rest and recover and reminisce on all of the fun I had even if it did cost me every ounce of energy I have. Did I mention how tired I am?? 😉

Getting over the blues

I mainly wrote this article because I’m sure I’m not the only one the holidays leave feeling this way. And, maybe with some healthy complaining and knowing someone else understands we can all get over the blues from the rush of the past few months. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season filled with blessings and cheer, and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

XOXO,

Calie

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